Geographic information systems provide for the archiving, retrieving, and manipulating of data that has been stored and indexed according to geographic coordinates of its elements. A geographic information system can be used for storing, manipulating, and displaying graphical representations of a geographic area. In particular, such graphical representations can include a two-dimensional (2D) image of the geographic area. For instance, such 2D image can be a mosaic image. An interactive geographic information system can present the image of the geographic area to a user in a suitable user interface, such as a browser. A user can navigate the mosaic image by controlling a virtual camera that specifies what portion of the mosaic image is rendered and presented to a user.
Conventional techniques for creating such images can include capturing a plurality of aerial images depicting overlapping portions of the geographic area and stitching projections of the aerial images on smoothed terrain to create an output image. As another example, images can be created by rendering a textured three-dimensional (3D) model of the geographic area from a desired viewing angle. Such 3D model can include a polygon mesh, such as a triangle mesh, used to model the geometry (e.g. terrain, buildings, and other objects) of the geographic area. Geographic imagery, such as aerial or satellite imagery, can be texture mapped to the 3D model so that the 3D model provides a more accurate and realistic representation of the scene.
However, such conventional techniques may cause inconsistent depictions of the geographic area. For instance, such techniques may result in mosaic images having visible seams and/or buildings that lean in inconsistent manners. As another example, such techniques can result in mosaic images that include unwanted artifacts or flickering.